


Cinderella: After the Marriage

by Rainbowdash9161



Category: Disney Princesses
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 17:10:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20915630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbowdash9161/pseuds/Rainbowdash9161
Summary: Ella finds a strange creature in the ocean by the castle





	1. The Beginning

Ella was never content with sitting still or staying in one place for a long time. She’d rather be moving or cleaning. She grew up always cleaning and after a while, it just became a habit. After Ella married Prince Charming, she quickly became bored with the royal life. The dancing was too tiring, fancy dinners were too formal, and she couldn’t sit still enough to read anything. Cleaning was her passion but the castle had maids and servants for that.  
  
One summer Charming decided to take Ella to one of the family’s old castles that needed a lot of work to get in good condition. The castle had two different wings, the East wing was in good condition and was almost untouched. The West wing, however, was overgrown with brambles and briars. Towering green stalks that covered the windows and threatened to topple the building. Standing high above the rest of the castle was a single tower, covered in the same brambles as the rest of the tower. Outside the castle was the ocean, a long expanse of tan sand leading up to the deep blue water.  
  
The entire summer Ella explored the East wing, Charming disallowed her from going to the West wing for it being too dangerous for his beloved queen. She cleaned many rooms and was happy the entire time; while she cleaned no one bothered her except to call her for a meal or to make sure she had a drink. By the time winter came, the East wing was almost as clean and tidy as the main castle. Though they went back to the main castle as soon as the wind turned cold and the leaves began falling from the trees, Ella longed to go back.  
  
The prince hated seeing his wife so miserable and made a deal with her; she could go back to the castle in the summers and she had to bring at least 5 servants with her. Ella agreed to this deal and almost instantly her mood improved, servants began to hear her singing and humming while she walked throughout the halls.  
  
On her return, Ella began working her way towards the West wing of the castle. She was careful to not allow the servants to know that she went to the West wing. She had to take garden hedge clippers with her every day to help her cut the brambles that had found their way into the corridors. Through the years fewer servants came with her until it was just her all year long. Ella felt pulled to the tower, almost like a magical force was calling her to whatever was at the top.


	2. The Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella finds a strange creature in the ocean by the castle

Every day during sunset Ella walked along the beach, gazing out across the water and listening to the soothing waves crash upon the sand; contemplating what was calling to her and why it was in the mysterious castle. One day while she was walking, Ella thought she saw something in the water; a creature that moved like a dolphin but looked like a human. She ignored it, blaming the vision on the sunset reflecting off the glistening water. For a week the creature seemed to be getting closer to shore until one day; it spoke to her.  
  
“Are you a human?” she spoke, her voice like a babbling brook during the first days of spring. Her hair was the colour of the roses that grew on the brambles crowding the corridors of the West wing and her eyes were the colour of the evening sky.  
  
“Yes, aren’t you human as well?”  
  
“No, I’m a woman of the sea,” She said, flipping a kelp green tail out of the water.  
  
Ella was intrigued by the creature in front of her. She had heard sailors in the castle talking about mysterious creatures that lived in the sea. They had the torso and head of a human and in place of legs lay fins like a dolphin. Sailors told stories of them whenever she asked, after all, she was royalty, they lived in cities that lay at the bottom of the sea and breathed like fish. Enchanting creatures that could steal a sailor off their ship in the blink of an eye, voices that lured men to their death in the icy waters at the bottom of the ocean. But this was not the terrifying monster they had told her about; it was an elegant creature of the sea. An innocent soul that wished to learn. A splashing sound interrupted Ellas’ thoughts and she looked up to see the mysterious woman swimming away.  
  
“May I ask your name jeune fille*? And will I see you again?” Ella asked, desperate to speak more with the thing of legend that was in front of her.  
  
“My name is Ariel and I will be back tomorrow at sunset. I must go now for my father knows not of where I have been.” As soon as the words were spoken, Ariel sank into the water and out of Ellas’ sight.  
  
That night Ella tossed and turned thinking of the strange crimson-haired girl and what could happen if she met with Ariel again. She slept poorly that night and got up early in the morning to continue with the work on the West wing; clearing vines from the corridors and rooms. That evening she walked by the sea and, just as she had said, Ariel met her again. They talked to each other about their own worlds until the sun sank below the horizon and the first stars of the night began appearing.  
  
They spoke of the plants on land and the culture of humans, the creatures of the deep and the culture of Atlantians. They spoke for the entire summer and through the winter evenings. Ella built small fires next to the beach in the cold afternoons and answered all of Ariels’ questions about what the strange light was and how it burned on land but not in the sea. In the early spring months, Ella found a canal that connected the salty ocean water to the moat that ran around and under the castle. In the depths of the castle were small rooms that led right down to the water. Ariel began meeting with Ella in these chambers and was able to talk into the late hours of the night.  
  
As the days grew longer and the waters grew warmer Ella began swimming in the water with Ariel. Every day that passed, Ella fell more in love with the girl before her and they stopped talking about others but about themselves and their lives. Ariel began bringing her own things to the underwater chambers and Ella brought gifts she found in the castle from times long past.  
  
A year after they met, tired of hiding their secret meetings, Ariel brought her father to meet Ella and give his blessing for them to be together. King Triton was reluctant at first because his own wife had been killed by humans, but he was impressed with Ella for she ate only plants and never killed except for self-defense. He saw how happy his daughter was with this human girl and the smile on Ariels’ face reminded him of his beloved Athena. He eliminated the only thing keeping them from loving each other fully and gave Ariel the legs she wished for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jeune fille = young maiden


	3. The Awakening

Ella taught Ariel how to cook, garden, and all other aspects of being a human. During the day, Ariel either read books in the library or worked on the ‘homework’ Ella gave her to help her read and write like a human. In her downtime, Ariel enjoyed swimming in the ocean or going around the castle looking for ‘gizmos’, gadgets, ‘whozits’, ‘whatzits’, and ‘thingamabobs’. 

Ella started her days with teaching Ariel how to read and write, cook and clean, and different mannerisms humans had with each other (Saying hello and goodbye to others and not using forks to brush your hair). She was able to find some children's books in one of the rooms in the West wing and gave them to Ariel for her to read while she continued in her effort to get to the base of the tower. Around noon Ella went back to the West wing to continue on the brambles blocking her way to the tower. Ella worked until the sun began to sink and it was hard to see in the corridors, going back to the East wing to meet with Ariel for dinner in the Great Hall. After dinner, Ariel asked Ella many questions about what she had read that day or about things she had found in the castle during her exploration. At night they slept in the same bed, legs intertwined and arms wrapped around each other tightly; like if they let go the other would float away into oblivion. 

Ella and Ariel lived in this comfortable schedule for almost two years before Ella was finally nearing what she believed was the end of her journey. In the dim light of the corridor, Ella raised her sharp hedge shears and cut the final bramble. As it fell away from the others, it revealed an elegant door with a spiral staircase leading as far up as Ella could see. She was the accomplishment that she instantly dropped the shears and took off down the hallway; running at full speed to find Ariel. Fortunately, Ariel was still in the library sorting a wide assortment of things she found. 

“I found it!” Ella almost yelled, out of breath from running almost completely across the castle. 

“Found what? Is it another thingamabob?” Ariel said, ecstatically pointing to a pile of corkscrews. Unfortunately, Ariel still had problems knowing the actual names of things.

“No, I found the entrance to the tower; and I’ve told you before Mon trésor*, those are corkscrews, not thingamabobs. I have to get to the top of that tower” Ella turned to the door, about to run back to the tower despite how tired she was already. She stopped when she felt a warm hand on her wrist

“Wait until tomorrow, there will be more light and you need to rest.” Ella looked deeply into Ariel’s eyes, almost getting lost in the deep blue pools of emotion. Ella turned around and held the small hands of the woman across from her.

“Only for you” Ella was surprised to be pulled into a loving embrace; pulling away after a moment to place a chaste kiss on Ariel’s forehead. They slowly walked to the kitchen and began preparing dinner. They ate together as Ariel asked many questions about what she had read that day and some of the things she had found( a candlestick, 3 bobby pins, and an assortment of buttons). Ella slept restlessly that night, thinking only of what could be at the top of that mysterious tower and why it was calling to her. 

Ella woke long before Ariel and left a note by the bed, stating that she went to go investigate the tower and that Ariel could either wait for her to come back or that she could finish reading the book from yesterday. She ate an apple on her way to the tower, the walk seemed longer than before now but she got to the new opening just as the sun was filtering in through the beautiful stained glass windows. 

Ella began climbing the stairs with great determination; the stairs were fairly narrow and all the walls surrounding her were bare apart from a few windows to let in the light and old burned-out torches on the walls. She seemed to be climbing for hours before Ella was able to see the landing at the top of the stairs. On the landing, there was a single wooden door, carved with roses and vines much like those that grew in the castle. The handle was old cast iron, shaped to look like a rose on the vine. Ella pushed on the door, heaving to get it to move after it had been closed for what could have been millennia. As the door opened, Ella felt her chest tighten at the sight before her.

The room was fairly simple but also extravagantly elegant. On the far wall, there were arches that led out to a small balcony with a white painted banister. A single window was on the right wall, vines spilling in from outside the tower; a solitary beam of light from the rising sun flooded into the room and illuminated a platform across from it. The platform was on the left side of the room, faded pink curtain picturing roses and vines sheltered the platform from peering eyes. Ella pulled back the curtains and her breath caught in her throat, heart beating out of her chest. The platform held an elegant bed, a blue duvet with the same pattern as the curtain lay on the bed. Under the cover lay a magnificent young woman, her eyes shut as though she was peacefully sleeping, wavy golden hair spilled onto the pillow beneath her head, her lips were red as roses. She was dressed in an elegant blue dress and wore a golden crown upon her head; her hands were grasping a rose sitting on her chest. The woman before her seemed peaceful, almost dead. As Ella got closer she saw that the body was moving slightly, breathing. 

Ella felt her body moving on its’ own like a magical force was pulling her toward the woman. She gently sat on the bed, trying not to disturb this Sleeping Beauty she had found. Ella leaned down, her face just above the other and gently pressed her lips against the velvet soft ones of the woman lying under her. Ella heard a gasp from the woman under, like it was waking up after a long rest. Slowly, the sleeping woman opened her eyes and Ella stared into the bright blue pools looking at her in confusion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mon trésor = My treasure


End file.
